Kim Jong-un and his wife, Ri Sol-ju quoted from Rodong Newspaper on may 2014<\/p><\/div>\n
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ASIA PRESS, amid of flow of news from South Korean media, covering the defection of Thae Yong-ho, minister of North\u2019s mission at London, asked opinions from reporting partners in North Korea. The news was sent to them via e-mail in advance. A telephone interview was made with a middle aged female reporter in Northern area of North Korea on August 19.<\/p>\n
Q:<\/strong> What do you think about the defection of the minister, Thae Yong-ho? Why did he go to the South even if he had a good life in foreign country?
\nA:<\/strong> Well\u2026 I don\u2019t know what else he needed\u2026.<\/p>\n
Q:<\/strong> It is said that he was supposed to return to North Korea.
\nA:<\/strong> That is why he decided to escape. If he comes back (to North Korea), there would be no chance to go out again. Who would like to live here? Well, everybody will try to capture him.
\nRelated article: DPRK high-ranking state officials ordered to attend seminar against escaping the country: frequent escapes concern Kim regime<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
The reporting partner said that minister Thae\u2019s defection is natural. She thinks that the reason for the defection is due to the political oppression by the authority and poor living condition. When we had interviews with North Korean people on occasion of group defection of 13 North Korean employees in China on April, this reporter said without hesitation \u201cif I had been in China, I must have thought of defection too.\u201d
\nRelated article: Kim Jong-un\u2019s Furious Response to the Defection of 13 Restaurant staff<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/a>* Editor\u2019s notes on North Korean reporters<\/a>
\n<\/a><\/strong><\/span>ARCHIVE(pdf) >><\/a><\/span>
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